Picture this: It's Monday night, around 8. You reach for the remote and click to ABC's Monday Night Football. After the familiar chords of the theme song fade into graphics of helmets and jerseys colliding, a rainbow appears. You see a little girl smiling proudly with each step she takes, thanks to the help of her silver leg braces and a well-known professional athlete.
These are the images 80 million people see every Monday night when they watch a team that has been together since 1974 -- the United Way and the National Football League.
Says Pete Mangurian, former NFL coach and now the Roger J. Weiss football coach at Cornell, the partnership between United Way and the NFL is a special one: "It's a way for people in a very select group to give back."
Mangurian, originally from Los Angeles, moved to Ithaca with his wife, Amy, and their two daughters, ages 5 and 8, last spring. Although he has been here less than a year, he said he feels very comfortable in the Ithaca community.
"Ithaca's sense of community is strong because it's smaller than a lot of other cities. It's a great place for a family to grow up. There are many benefits to living in a small town. We've really enjoyed it," Mangurian said.
This is not to say the community is without its share of problems. "If you really look at what's going on out there, you'll see a need," Mangurian said, noting that most people want to know how they can make a contribution to their community. "United Way has been a vehicle for that."
Mangurian began playing football in high school. Then he played for the Louisiana State University Tigers as a defensive tackle and went on to earn a B.A. in political science in 1978. Over the next nine years, he coached at several schools, including Southern Methodist University, New Mexico State, Stanford and his alma mater, LSU, which went to the Sugar Bowl on two occasions.
Like the United Way, Mangurian's relationship with the NFL has been an extensive one. Just prior to accepting his post with the Big Red, he was offensive team assistant under Dan Reeves, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Mangurian also coached the offensive lines of the New York Giants from 1993 to 1996 and the Denver Broncos from 1988 to 1992.
In 1990, Denver went to Super Bowl XXIV. "The Super Bowl was the pinnacle of my career," Mangurian said, "for obvious reasons."
The Super Bowl also is a big event for the United Way. During the Super Bowl, United Way public-service announcements reach an estimated 134 million people in the United States and 750 million people worldwide, according to statistics from United Way.
Mangurian is not the only Cornell coach with professional football connections, however: Assistant coaches Bill Arnsparger and John Reaves also have worked in the NFL -- Arnsparger as a head coach, an assistant coach and a defensive coordinator, and Reaves as an NFL quarterback.
The United Way's record with the NFL is impressive. According to United Way of America, more than 700 public-service messages have been filmed and aired during NFL games over the past quarter century, making it the longest running public-service campaign ever.
NFL Charities, the National Football League's philanthropic organization, makes a significant contribution to United Way of America each year, Mangurian explained. This commitment creates more resources for local United Way organizations to raise money for the everyday heroes who are making a difference in their own communities.
When asked about being a hero, Mangurian said: "It depends on how you look at being a hero. I have an opportunity be one (as a coach). That's one reason I decided to return to being a head coach at the college level -- to give back," he said. "I had coaches who gave to me, and now it's my turn to reciprocate. Cornell is a great place to do that."
Mangurian added: "I have a lot more impact on young men at this level. That's the reward for being a coach. You see someone more grown-up and more mature than when they came. When you're a coach, you're really just a teacher. That's all."
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